Commando 43-47376

VARIANT: Curtiss C-46A-60-CK Commando

USAF SERIAL NUMBER (S/N): 43-47376

CURTISS CONSTRUCTION NUMBER (C/N): 446

COMMANDO LINE NUMBER (L/N): CK424

FATE: Written off

  June 1945 to October 1945

  43-47376 - USAAF (USA)

14 June 1945

Delivered from the Curtiss-Wright factory in Saint Louis, MO.

Assigned to the 1^st Operational Training Unit (1 OTU) based at Rosecrans Field, MO.

Remained within the Continental USA.

  October 1945 to unknown date

  43-47376 - RFC (RECONSTRUCTION FINANCE CORPORATION) (USA)

25 October 1945

Transferred to RFC and stored at Walnut Ridge AAF, AR.

  Unknown date to March 1950

  N1431V - SUN CHEMICAL CORPORATION (USA)

Unknown date

Purchased from RFC.

28 March 1950

Registered.

27 July 1951

Registration cancelled, exported to Brazil.

  March 1950 to September 1950

  PP-XCV - LOIDE AEREO NACIONAL (BRAZIL)

20 March 1950

Purchased and assigned a temporary import registration. [date seems a bit early, TBC]

Ferried to Brazil.

  September 1950 to May 1952

  PP-LDE - LOIDE AEREO NACIONAL (BRAZIL)

26 September 1950

Assigned a permanent registration.

24 May 1952

Damaged beyond repair near Manaus, Brazil after an engine failure.

The Commando was operating a cargo flight between Manaus and Rio de Janeiro Santos Dumont, Brazil with six crewmembers onboard. After takeoff, an engine failed. The pilot elected to return to Manaus for an emergency landing but the aircraft stalled and crashed into the Río Negro. The airplane sank and all six crew members were killed. It appears that the gust lock had been left in place.

Right: a stunning shot of PP-LDE at Rio de Janeiro Santos Dumont, Brazil in the early 1950's.
Photo credit: Ed Coates / AirHistory.net